A veterinarian site discussing an odd “lump” on a horse’s ankle. The odd, squishy, growing lump turned out to be a cluster of bot fly eggs UNDER the horse’s skin – where he had recovered from a recent laceration.
Yeesh. More on that in a bit… but first…
HERE IS THE TYPICAL BOT FLY LIFE CYCLE.
The bot fly life cycle…
Bot flies (this is my explanation) lay eggs on the exterior hair of your horse’s underside (usually the legs and belly). The horse grooms himself or scratches there and the egg is ingested into the gut where the fly develops and it excreted via manure.
I’ve written about bot flies and their life cycle here.
Below is a photo of common bot fly eggs on the hairs of the leg of a horse. Also, I’ve added a photo of a bot knife, which all horse owners should carry. They are very easy to use and should be in every grooming kit.
Bot eggs are little yellow ovals… They hang on the hairs on the underside of your horse.
This is a bot knife. They work. Every grooming kit should have one. When you see a bot egg, remove it.
OK, NOW, THIS IS A BOT FLY OF A DIFFERENT VENUE/PORTAL.
So I was on a veterinarian site recently and they were discussing an unusual ‘lump’ on a horse’s ankle.
The lump was squishy and growing…
What was known was that the horse had a laceration in that spot recently – during the summer. The laceration was treated and it did heal. Except… something was odd. The laceration healed with this squishy, growing lump.
The vet decided to reopen the wound and excise the lump.
What they found?…
Live bot eggs. Hundreds of them.
Yuk.
Basically, the fly landed on the wound, laid its eggs inside the wound, and the eggs continued on their lifecycle.
Good to know. Keep those wounds really fresh and clean…
Here is the horse’s squishy, growing lump on the healed wound site.
Upon excising the lump, hundreds of live bot eggs. Ewww. So the lesson is to make sure that wound is clean!
Thank you Dawn!
Very interesting article.